If Israel is such a major issue for the Jewish community as it rightfully should be, why would Jews back the Democrats? The truth is that there was a time when Democrats were Pro-Israel (LBJ, Harry Truman, JFK, RFK, Scoop Jackson) And there was a time when Republicans were not so friendly to the Jews (Pat Buchanan, Bush I, James Baker etc.)
The main answer to these legitimate questions is that social issues predominantly drives the Jewish connection to the Democrat party as most secular Jews are pro-choice, against the dominance of religion in society, for gun control, and therefore can not be single issue "Israel voters" even though Israel is an issue that concerns them.
( Please note that there is no attempt here to disparage secular Jews; this is merely an attempt to explain their reasoning for backing the Democrats despite all indications for them not to do so. Certainly, everyone is entitled to their own opinion no matter how misguided it may be)
However, slowly but surely, many Jewish Democrats are finally realizing that the Democrat Party is no longer their home. We started seeing a Jewish trend towards the Republicans with the Reagan administration's close ties to the Jewish state. As President George W. Bush became known as one of the most Pro-Israel Presidents in U.S. history, more Jewish Democrats voted for Bush II in 2004 although Kerry still got the bulk of the Jewish vote.
Surprisingly, 80% of Jews voted for Obama in 2008 despite his 20 year association with a radical anti-semitic preacher named Jeremiah Wright.
However, for the first time, the iceberg may have fallen over causing tons of Jewish Democrats to start packing towards red country.
It would have to take a radical guy like Barack Obama to shift the Jewish voting patterns. Jewish voters are finally realizing that Obama is so entrenched with the Muslim world that he is willing to sell out Israel and the lives of more than six million Jews living in Israel in order to appease the Iranians.
Just a few observations which leads me to believe that we will be seeing significantly more Jewish voters electing Republicans in 2010 and 2012.
The Former Mayor of New York, Ed Koch, a well known Jewish Democrat who usually has a good pulse on the views of the American Jewish community recently came out against Obama. Koch endorsed Bush II in 2004 and then went back to the Democrats in 2008 endorsing Obama. He now says that he is "getting off the Obama train because of Obama's mistreatment of the State of Israel. You rarely hear such a prominent Democrat in New York politics so vocally express his disgust for a Democrat President.
It takes the radical views of Barack Obama to spur Koch to do just that and I would imagine he's bringing a lot of Jewish Democrats with him off the train.
Another observation which many people do not yet know about and is a breaking development.
Kauffmans Commentary recently sponsored an "Israel Deserves Respect" Petition to President Obama. Kcom recieved quite a few responses from former Obama supporters who are outraged at the manner in which Obama disrespected Prime-minister Netanyahu when he visited the White House last March. Some of these former Obama suppporters were Jewish Americans who are now regretting their vote.
This is only the beginning of the Republican tent opening a little larger to welcome disenfranchised Jewish voters running away from Barack Obama and the Democrats. Stay tuned for more articles on this topic.
If you are reading this article and are a Jewish Democrat, let me know what you think. Will you be voting for Barack Obama in 2012?
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1 comments:
I agree whole-heartedly with you Tammy! You set an example for others in your support of freedom and the Jewish People!!
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